Buy, Sell and Hold: D-Wave, IonQ and Rigetti Computing

In the high-stakes arena of emerging tech, quantum computing has roared back into the investor spotlight over the past month, riding a wave of breakthroughs that echo the early AI frenzy. Stocks like IonQ (NYSE:IONQ), Rigetti Computing (NASDAQ:RGTI), and D-Wave Quantum (NYSE:QBTS) have each surged 80% to 90% since mid-August 2025, propelled by regulatory nods, strategic partnerships, and technical milestones. 

IonQ’s shares, for instance, rocketed from around $37 to $70, while RGTI climbed from $12 to $28, and QBTS leaped from $15 to $27. These gains stem from tangible progress: IonQ’s acquisition approvals, Rigetti’s defense contracts, and D-Wave’s Asia-Pacific expansion. 

Yet, with full commercial viability likely years away — experts peg fault-tolerant systems for 2030 or beyond — volatility looms large. The sector’s promise of revolutionizing drug discovery, optimization, and cryptography tempts bold bets, but cash burn and competition from tech giants like IBM (NYSE:IBM) and Google add risk. 

As quantum hype meets reality, should investors buy the dip, sell the spike, or hold for the long haul?

IonQ (IONQ)

IonQ has emerged as the sector’s frontrunner this month, its stock exploding 91% on a cascade of wins that underscore its trapped-ion tech’s edge in accuracy and scalability. The crown jewel was final U.K. regulatory clearance for its $1.075 billion acquisition of Oxford Ionics, a move blending IonQ’s cloud-accessible systems with Ionics’ semiconductor-style qubit manufacturing. This could slash costs and fast-track IonQ’s roadmap to 256 high-fidelity qubits by 2026 and millions by 2030. 

Adding fuel to the rise, IonQ inked a U.S. Department of Energy memorandum on Sept. 17 to deploy quantum tech in space, partnering with Honeywell (NYSE:HON) for orbital applications like secure comms and sensing — unlocking potential future NASA and Defense Dept. deals. Its Analyst Day on Sept. 12 dazzled with synthetic diamond breakthroughs for qubit cooling, plus the launch of its IonQ Federal operations to court government clients. 

Revenue jumped 82% year-over-year in the second quarter, though net losses continue amid increased R&D spending.

For investors in for a decade-long quantum moonshot, IonQ is a buy. Analysts like Benchmark and Cantor Fitzgerald see it as the pure-play leader, outpacing rivals in fidelity records. At current valuations of 15x forward sales, it’s frothy but justified by its $100 million cash reserves and cloud partnerships with Amazon‘s (NASDAQ:AMZN) AWS and Microsoft‘s (NASDAQ:MSFT) Azure. If you hate volatility, though, this stock isn’t for the faint-hearted.

Rigetti Computing (RGTI)

Rigetti Computing’s 85% stock pop feels like a quantum entanglement of hype and hardware hustle, driven by deals cementing its superconducting qubit niche. On Sept. 18, a $5.8 million, three-year Air Force Research Lab contract lit shares up 14%, tasking Rigetti with scaling quantum networks alongside Dutch firm QphoX. 

This builds on a Sept. 2 memorandum of understanding with India’s C-DAC for hybrid systems, targeting government labs and academics amid Asia’s quantum boom. Earlier, Rigetti unveiled its 36-qubit Cepheus system in July, halving error rates to 99.5% fidelity and eyeing 100+ qubits by year-end. 

Q2 results showed $572 million in cash, funding multi-chip innovations that sidestep single-processor bottlenecks.

Hold Rigetti if you’re diversified in quantum exchange-traded funds like Defiance Quantum ETF (NYSEARCA:QTUM), where it is the ETF’s largest holding. Analysts are split on RGTI, optimistic from contracts but negative margins and dilution risks. At $28, it’s tripled over the past six months and is up nearly 3,300% over the past year, but Rigetti lags IonQ in commercial traction. That makes RGTI stock attractive to patient speculators, but a sell for everyone else amid execution hurdles.

D-Wave Quantum (QBTS)

D-Wave Quantum’s 78% rally channels the speculative fervor at play in the sector, with shares hitting all-time highs on the annealing tech optimization niche. Kicking off the surge, a Sept. 2 C-DAC partnership mirrors Rigetti’s India play, co-developing hybrids for logistics and AI. Then it made its debut at Qubits Japan 2025 last week, D-Wave’s first APAC user conference, which led to an 83% regional booking spike for its Advantage systems. 

New CISO Stan Black’s hire bolsters the quantum computing stock’s cybersecurity cred, whileits record $15 million revenue in Q1 from pharma and defense pilots signals it is gaining traction. Yet, negative pretax margins and annealing’s narrower scope compared to gate-model universality, suggests caution is necessary.

Unless you’re all-in on niche wins, QBTS is a sell. Despite 11 “Buy” ratings on Wall Street, Forbes warns of a potential plummet to $1 on cash burn and giant competition. It’s up 2,200% year-over-year on the spillover from AI, but at 20x sales remains overbought. Lock in gains now before the annealing bubble bursts.